Thrush Aircraft, Inc. designs and manufactures specialized aerial application aircraft, which are used for agriculture, forestry, border surveillance, and fire-fighting functions worldwide. Founded in 2003, Thrush is well known for building the most durable aircraft in the aerial application industry, which pilots and operators agree are the best flying planes for these purposes. All Thrush models provide superb visibility, light control response, and a high degree of maneuverability and speed, along with superior effi ciency and low direct operating costs. Today, there are more than 2,100 Thrush aircraft operating in 80 countries. The company’s recent success may not have occurred had the company not pursued a more aggressive product development effort. Although Thrush’s predecessor, the Ayres Corporation, went out of business, visionary businessman Payne Hughes bought the assets of the defunct Ayres Corporation in 2003, and the greatest turnaround in agricultural aviation began. Under Hughes’ leadership, the company’s staff, capabilities, and product line were completely revamped. Then the company’s massive production facility in Albany, Ga., re-emerged as Thrush Aircraft, Inc. According to Lead Design Engineer Fernando Alvarado, revamping the company’s product development platform played an important role in the company’s turnaround. “We were using AutoCAD® 2D design tools, which were not very effi cient,” Alvarado explains. “While we knew that moving to a 3D design environment would provide benefi ts in terms of accelerating development and increasing throughput, we needed to fi nd a way to pay for 3D software. So we convinced management that we could sell a piece of equipment that we no longer used—an old FaroArm—and use the proceeds to upgrade from 2D to 3D design.” After evaluating 3D design solutions—including Creo®, Inventor®, NX®, and SOLIDWORKS—Thrush decided to standardize on SOLIDWORKS, implementing several seats of SOLIDWORKS Premium design and analysis software. Thrush chose SOLIDWORKS because it is easy to use, requires less training, and provides access to a range of integrated solutions. As the company has grown, Thrush has implemented additional SOLIDWORKS solutions, including SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional analysis, SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematics design, SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D design, and SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional product data management (PDM) software.
BECOMING MORE EFFICIENT
Since implementing SOLIDWORKS design, analysis, and PDM solutions, Thrush has streamlined its development processes, enabling the agri-aircraft manufacturer to cut its design cycles in half. In addition to realizing time savings during development, the company has reduced costs related to rework, because the increased accuracy of SOLIDWORKS has enabled Thrush to virtually eliminate the need to trim and rework parts during assembly. “We’re designing faster with SOLIDWORKS, validating performance with SOLIDWORKS Simulation, and automating workfl ows and controlling revisions with SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional,” Alvarado stresses. “The move to SOLIDWORKS truly demonstrated how much more effi cient we can be working in 3D and how much more we need to do to take our product development operation to the next level. In many ways, SOLIDWORKS has helped us move the company forward.”